Publication

  • Research Architecture: Provocations, Practices, and Propositions
    Riccardo Badano, Tomas Percival, and Susan Schuppli
    Editors
    Spector Books and CRA Press, 2023
  • GRANTEE
    Goldsmiths College, University of London-Centre for Research Architecture
    GRANT YEAR
    2021

CRA, “Roundtable.” Courtesy Centre for Research Architecture, London

Research Architecture: Pedagogies, Politics, and Practices is a series of four short publications investigating key areas of research that have emerged out of the Centre for Research Architecture’s (CRA) at Goldsmiths, University of London. This book series seeks to highlight the investigative spirit of the Centre by bringing together documents of specific investigations, examples of spatial methods, exemplary research projects, interviews, transcripts of roundtable discussions, collective works, and archival materials. In doing so, the publications foreground the innovative practice-based methodologies and modes of political engagement that have been developed to respond to contemporary urgencies. As such, each of the short books draws together contributions from thinkers and practitioners that have contributed to the development of the CRA’s pedagogical program over the past fifteen years.

Susan Schuppli is an artist-researcher and writer, whose work examines material evidence from war and conflict to environmental disasters and climate change. She is director of the Centre for Research Architecture and board chair of Forensic Architecture. She received her doctorate from Goldsmiths, has published widely, and is the author of Material Witness (MIT Press, 2020).

Lorenzo Pezzani is an architect and researcher. In 2015, he completed his doctorate in research architecture at Goldsmiths, where he is currently lecturer and leads the graduate studio in Forensic Architecture. His work deals with the spatial politics and visual cultures of migration with a particular focus on the geography of the ocean.

Riccardo Badano is a researcher and visual practitioner. His work investigates the intersection of environmental issues and border circulations. As embedded researcher at Het Nieuwe Instituut he collaborated with Formafantasma and Serpentine Galleries for the exhibition Cambio for which he edited the catalogue (Walther Koenig Books, 2020).

Tomas Percival is an artist and researcher. His work investigates the securitization of space, specifically in relation to algorithmic governance, punitive geographies, surveillance, and rights. He holds a master in fine art from the University of California, Los Angeles, and is currently a doctoral candidate at the Centre for Research Architecture.

Ariadna Serrahima is a graphic designer, editor, and researcher. She cofounded L’Automàtica, a self-organized printing shop and I.F publications, and independent publishing house. Her research focuses on forms of insurgent learning and subversive technologies of communality. She holds a master’s in research architecture and is a doctoral candidate in visual cultures at Goldsmiths.

Guy Sewell is a publishing assistant at Goldsmiths Press. He studied cultural studies at Goldsmiths and has previously worked for Verso Books, the Literary Review of Canada, and Brick: A Literary Journal. He has also produced events for the Toronto International Film Festival and the British Film Institute. Sewell is the coordinator for the Research Architecture: Provocations, Practices, and Propositions series at Goldsmiths Press.

Ifor Duncan is a post-doctoral fellow in environmental humanities at the Center for the Humanities and Social Change (Ca'Foscari, University of Venice). Duncan holds a doctorate from the Centre for Research Architecture. He has taught at Goldsmiths and the Royal College of Art. Duncan provides editorial support for Research Architecture: Provocations, Practices, and Propositions.

Eyal Weizman is director of Forensic Architecture. He has authored over fifteen books. He has held positions at Princeton, ETH Zurich, and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. He is a life fellow of the British Academy. Weizman is the external advisor for the Research Architecture: Provocations, Practices, and Propositions series.

The Centre for Research Architecture (CRA) was founded in 2005 in the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London. It is organized around practice-led research that investigates the urgent political conditions of our time. Its goal is to provide practitioners with tools for undertaking spatial research and critical analysis into questions of conflict, media, ecology, and human rights. The CRA is home to a unique practice-based PhD, two MA studios, and the Forensic Architecture research agency. The Centre is committed to supporting radical and innovative thinking and promoting access and diversity within academia.

More broadly, Goldsmiths, University of London, is a public research university. Goldsmiths conducts world-leading research and offers high-quality teaching in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Goldsmiths is a constituent college of the University of London and was founded in 1891. The university aims to offer a transformative experience, generating knowledge and stimulating self-discovery through creative, radical and intellectually rigorous thinking and practice.